Prior research is presented that demonstrates conditions under which subjects low in achievement motivation are found to exhibit high achiever-like behaviors, preferences, and task-strategies. By appeal to recent attributional studies and to several studies by the principal investigator, it is argued that those low in achievement motivation also have a strong desire to excel in competition involving a standard of excellence. They are motivated, however, by different standards, and many differences between those high and low in achievement motivation can be explained by their differential evaluation of ability and effort. Three experiments--involving help-seeking, occupational choice, and reward or punishment given success or failure--are proposed to demonstrate the presence, the importance, and the implications of this evaluational difference.